LD Series – 16 Hz

The Answer to Locating in Steel or Ductile Iron Lines

Now your locates don’t have to stop where the steel begins.
Penetrating steel or ductile iron requires a very low frequency, and the 16 Hz LD Series transmitters have it. Use it with your LF2200 in lines of almost any material – steel, cast iron or nonmetallic.

You’ll also find that 16 Hz is far less vulnerable to electrical interference than 512 Hz.

16 Hz – a very low frequency with the advantage that it will penetrate steel or ductile iron lines (as well as cast iron and nonmetallic). It is compatible with any gear that operates at 16 Hz.

512 Hz – the industry standard frequency for locating in cast iron or nonmetallic lines. It is compatible with any other manufacturer’s 512 Hz equipment.

8 KHz – a high frequency that works in nonmetallic lines only, but is very efficient and offers good range. Works with any 8 KHz equipment.

223 KHz – suitable for nonmetallic environments only. Only Prototek makes equipment that operates at this frequency (AR-1 and ATP-12).

You must match the transmitter’s frequency to the receiver’s frequency. A 512 Hz Transmitter will not work with a 223 KHz Receiver, etc.

The Range of a transmitter is the maximum distance, in feet, your receiver can be from the transmitter and still pick up a usable signal (using fresh batteries in both transmitter and receiver). The numeric part of the Part No. of every Prototek transmitter tells you what its maximum effective range is.

For 16 Hz transmitters, the Part No. tells you its range in steel or ductile iron lines. This range is very dependent on the wall thickness of the pipe, so the range given is pessimistic, i.e., for the thickest typical lines. Range in nonmetallic lines can be up to 3 times that in steel; the range in cast iron is slightly less than in nonmetallic.

For 512 Hz transmitters, the Part No. tells you its range in cast iron. You can easily determine its range in nonmetallic lines by multiplying this number by 1.5. That means the range of an FV-10, for example, is 10 feet in cast iron and 15 feet in nonmetallic.

For 8 KHz transmitters, the range is for nonmetallic lines only – its signal will not pass through any kind of metal. For example, the range of an HV-40 transmitter is 40 feet.

For a 223 KHz transmitter (ATP-12), the range is also for nonmetallic lines only. The range of an ATP-12 flushable transmitter is 12 feet.

“Tone” refers to the type of signal emitted by a transmitter. All of our transmitters are one of these types; many are available either way. Which tone should you choose? Here are some considerations about each type:

C – Continuous or “Solid” Tone

Pros:
• available on almost all Prototek transmitters
• best to use for determining precise depth
• compatible with most other manufacturers’ equipment